It’s the B’s Knees
March 12, 2010
Category: 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft
Lance Berkman is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee and will be out two to four weeks. I expect he’ll miss at least a week of the season. Maybe two. And even though it’s at worst two weeks of the season, I dropped his projections (to see them, go to the top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball), because when older players need knee surgery after bumping their knees, well, it concerns me. Luckily for Astro fans, Ed Wade planned way ahead for an injury to Lance Berkman. Step right up, Geoff Blum! Wait! This just in! Ed Wade just traded Lance Berkman’s physician for a box of Triscuits. Wade, “If anyone can do this surgery, it’s this box of Triscuits. They’re so woven!” Anyway, here’s some other news in fantasy baseball:
Jose Reyes – As you probably know by now, Reyes is going to miss 2 to 8 weeks with a wonky thyroid. He’ll likely begin the year on the 15-day DL. Which is not the same as being on the DL for the entire year. Hopefully. I said this about the whole Reyes thyroid issue when it happened. I’ve also updated my top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball, top 100 and top 300 rankings. Right now, I have Berkman in a Cousteau-deep league and Reyes in a league with no bench. If you need me, I’ll be on the roof of my building waiting for someone to push me. Since this isn’t a leg issue, I wouldn’t turn down Reyes if he fell to me in the 4th round.
Carlos Beltran – Some people wondered if the Mets could keep their injury news streak alive in 2010. So far, so good, huh? Beltran says he should be ready to start rehab games in April, which would put him on a timetable to return to the Mets towards the end of April. He’s not a safe pick, but I’d start considering him around the 100th overall pick. Doubt his steals return to their previous glory, but he could be the three-hole hitter for the majority of the season and get 20+ homers.
Brandon Lyon – Faced live hitters today for the fist time. I’m assuming those live hitters were happy. Lyon should be ready in time for the start of the season. I still think he’s the guy the Astros turn to to close out most games. Lindstrom should still be owned for those vulturing and handcuffing.
Gaby Sanchez – Inside track on the 1st base job. He’s my backup for Berkman. Wish us well.
Brian Roberts – Taking pain meds… Aw, Sickie Roberts. I haven’t owned Roberts in many years because I thought he was overrated, but I was starting to come around on him. Now that he’s still dealing with a herniated disc, maybe I’ll go back to my original stance. Hey, his herniated disc is making me boomerang! (<–Australian humor)
March 12th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
In a 12 team h2h keeper, I’ve been trying to move Miguel Cabrera for Longoria. Miggy is projected to be my IF since I already have Pujols – and I don’t have a 3B.
The Longoria owner needs more. Am I giving up too much if I give Cabrera/Granderson for Longoria/Quentin? (my other OF is Braun) Or does it work for my team?
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@peter: That’s too much.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
@peter: Other possibilities: I offer Cabrera and Wainwright/Billingsley. I was planning on keeping Carpenter/Wainwright/Bills.
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@peter: Don’t like it either.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
@Grey: yeah, me neither. Thanks, I’ll try to find something else.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
You’ve updated all your rankings yet have no spreadsheets for me to sort, organize and analyze. I’m so upset I’m about to go divide by zero…
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
191st pick, Price, Soto, Evercab/Alcides are all available, and I need a C, SS, and a 5th pitcher. Looks like price has fallen to me after picking Oswalt last round, but I wont know for sure for two picks.
Needing all three, which would you choose first?
My original SS plan was to wait until one of the two got picked, and then pick the other, but now three teams need shortstops with Reyes out, so waiting might be a little riskier.
Good luck to you and Gaby on your honeymoon. I hope you don’t abuse him *too* much.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Nothing like a Lyon taking the mound to brighten a hitter’s day
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@Hoodlumman: Never happy, you.
@Lava: re: Gaby — Ha! Will probably be shortlived. Take EverCab, Soto then Price, in that order.
@Steve: Ha!
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
@Grey: RE: “I don’t know why if everyone else took a top tier you had to take one” I felt like with the way that draft was going I needed to get an ace. And since there was someone who valued Haren as a 2nd rounder I got concerned there wasn’t gonna be an SP1 left by my 4th pick. Not saying it was right, just the way I felt. Retrospect I coulda held out for a Lester caliber SP.
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Another scoreless outing from Chapman. 2 innings. 2 k’s. 2 infield singles. no walks. If he makes the team out of camp, where would he fit in your rankings?
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March 12th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Will do! Thank ya muchly! I know you guys think EverCab/Alcides are pretty much interchangeable, but any reason you picked him over Alcides at this point in the draft?
Also, re: Soto, if there are any better players that pop out to me, should I take them over him, even if they’d be bench players? I’m wondering if I’m far enough into the draft to be considered that I’m punting catcher, which would thus make Soto more valuable because I wouldn’t be punting.
Wow, that was confusing. That’s what I get for reading Razzball while at work.
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March 12th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Well, there goes my Robot Jones and Derek Lowe for Roy Oswalt trade… with Berkman down and Gaby Sanchez and Troy Glaus as the best waiver options, I can’t afford to lose him
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@timSTi: Gotcha
@John: He’s there already. He would move up. To about the 150 overall spot.
@Lava: Everth’s OBP is slightly better. I wouldn’t skip over Soto for a bench player.
@ichirosan: Nope
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
@Grey: Any advice for setting a pitching lineup in a weekly league? I’m used to daily moves. My staff looks like:
SP: Hamels, Jimenez, Billingsley, Slowey, Sanchez, Chamberlain
CL: Marmol, Street, Frank2, Nunez, Capps
MR: Wuertz, Thornton
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@sean: Gotta wait for match-ups…
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Man, I have had absolutely terrible luck auto-drafting teams….would anyone be interested in drafting a team for me on Sunday at 7:00??? Its a 12 team league, 6X6 ROTO, and I have the first overall pick. Hit me up at jacker37102@yahoo.com if your interested. It would save me a year with a crappy team…
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Hmm, noticed Stephen Drew is still available, out of the Andrus, Alexei, Drew tier. Would you want him over Everth, or would it all come down to how my team’s built? I like to think I have a pretty good mix of power/speed so far, with:
Justin Morneau
Brandon Phillips
Alex Rodriguez
Denard Span
Grady Sizemore
Josh Hamilton
Jay Bruce
This makes it hard to decide which I need more.
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@Lava: I’d hold tight.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
With EverCab, you mean?
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@Lava: Yeah, with EverCab, sorry.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
lind, cruz or markakis to fill your 2nd OF slot…. already got grandy….
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Any word on if Ian Desmond may start the year with Washington?
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@Tony: In a vacuum, Lind, Markakis…
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@Jif & The Choosy Mothers: Not yet, but he’s out there trying. He’s buried on the depth chart without an injury to someone though.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Gotcha! Remind me to buy you a drink tonight when I get home from work. I always forget when I’m off work and not caring about the world anymore.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
@Grey: Thanks for reassurance on Holliday. Will hold tight to original projections.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
@Grey: (digging back to the top of the thread) How about Cabrera/Granderson for Longoria/BJ Upton?
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@peter: That’s fair.
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March 12th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
@Grey: Ha – of course, if it’s fair then the other manager probably won’t be interested.
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March 12th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
@Grey: do you plan on writing a post of which CI’s to target late and when? If not, would you target those guys on the 3B from the post earlier today or go for a 1B bat like: laroche, robot jones, Konerko, nick johnson, branyan, loney, etc
thanks
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@incognithole: I don’t plan on it. LaRoche, Jones, Branyan, not in that order, are good names to look at.
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March 12th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
@incognithole: clarification; “do you plan on writing a post of which CI’s to target late and when?”
target late as in which rd would u take them ( i know at least after 8th rd)…..not when do u plan on writing post, etc
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March 12th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
thanks for the quick response!
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
12 team mock, drafting from the 12th spot, here’s my first 17, set it to auto after BRUCE, asked a guy why he took michael young in the mid 5th and his answer “he likes the fact he can get him steals”. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? 13 steals career high? LOL, wow.
1. Miguel Cabrera (Det – 1B)
2. David Wright (NYM – 3B)
3. Robinson Canó (NYY – 2B)
4. Curtis Granderson (NYY – OF)
5. Jon Lester (Bos – SP)
6. Adam Lind (Tor – OF)
7. Cole Hamels (Phi – SP)
8. Hunter Pence (Hou – OF)
9. Carlos Quentin (CWS – OF)
10. Chad Billingsley (LAD – SP)
11. Elvis Andrus (Tex – SS)
12. Jay Bruce (Cin – OF)
13. Gordon Beckham (CWS – 3B)
14. Carlos González (Col – OF)
15. Nolan Reimold (Bal – OF)
16. Billy Wagner (Atl – RP)
17. David Price (TB – SP)
thoughts on this mockity mock….?
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
@Grey: Thanks Grey!
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@Tony: Really nice hitting, though I don’t think you have enough speed. I count about 130 steals. Yeah, Young is a pick usually done by a team that is gonna lose. Bills that late is nice, but you don’t seem like you have enough starters, unless this isn’t the end of the draft, which it doesn’t seem like it is.
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
good article, grey you’ll wanna read about your man crush here if you havent already:
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_14446091
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Last call for doing my draft for me…It would really help me a lot!! Hit me up at jacker37102@yahoo.com Its better than a mock, and the other league members are pretty competitive, so it would be a better draft than just random mocks!
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@Tony: Drink!
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
@Grey: Ya i could take more speed, but you dont think with Wright, grandy, pence, andrus, beckham and cargo I dont have enough? AND NO, its not the end of the draft, it auto’d more guys, that i would never have picked and would be embarrassed to post! HA! so this strong team would be even stronger…. for my H2H league this team would be a beast, for roto, its a good start…. i guess.
the wife is yellin, damn wife! later…..
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
@Grey: HA! yes! DRINK! damn wife!
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March 12th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Chris Davis’ hot start.
Davis was 3-for-4 against the Padres on Friday and is batting .579 (11-for-19)
mrbaseball key stat of the night
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March 12th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Dump Mijares or Neftali for Chris Perez/Gregerson/Adams/Wuertz? I have mostly saves in mind, but I’ve been known to be a pretty big Mr. B in my day. I’m leaning towards Perez, I’d be pretty surprised if Wood and his $10 mil contract aren’t traded to one of the teams in need of help in the ‘pen
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March 12th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
***20-team H2H-POINTS salary cap league***
32-man roster, (20 starters, 8 bench, 4 minors)
$70 roster cap
I need an arm. I have plenty of cap room.
Trade a $2 Alex Gordon for a $3 Kevin Slowey?
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@Adam: Dump Mijares for Perez.
@Commish Cauda (formerly Mike): I’d want Slowey there.
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March 12th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
@Tony:
Nice first 17 man. You and I draft very alike by the looks of it, save perhaps the Cano pick ( I tend to go for Werth there, or Zimmerman if I didn’t pick up a 3B).
I’m actually glad you posted this because I was wondering how where I shpould pick Pence, Quentin, AND Andrus up. I’m a little worried about Andrus though. I would LOVE to pick him up in the 11th like you did, but I fear that I’ll get too comfortable and see him go in the 9th or 10th. His ADP suggests he goes in the 9th round (which is why I pick him up in the 8th). And I know that’s quite early when there’s still great guys on the board, but I really don’t want Alcides/EverCab.
My worrisome scenario is that when the good SS are off the board in my draft, the managers (who probably don’t even know the value of Andrus, and haven’t researched at all this offseason, or at least not as much as me) will click the “SS”filter, and see Andrus all the way up there and take him simply because Yahoo put him there.
Should I risk it? Or should I continue doing what i’ve been doing and take him in the 8th?
Why do I have such a man crush on Andrus?
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March 12th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
@Grey: Drop Clerks for Clerks II?
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March 12th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Grey, you’ve said a couple times to fill up your bench with pitchers and not hitters. I’m curious of your reasoning behind this.
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@BigFatHippo: Is there a Clerks II?
@Nathan: Because you always have some pitchers that are going to pitch on a given day and if you have bench pitchers you have a chance for vulture wins, Ks and ratio help. Bench hitters give you nothing but agita.
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March 12th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
@Grey: Sonavabench!
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@Steve: Yup, that’s agita.
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March 12th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Oh I see, so when you say to fill up your bench with pitchers, are you talking mostly relievers?
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March 12th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
@Grey: (sung) “When you bench a guy and he hits a big fly, that’s agita”
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@Nathan: Yeah, but starters don’t go all on one day so you can shuffle in good ones there too.
@Steve: Hey, you’re a regular Dean Martin!
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March 12th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
@Eddy: ya i just took cano to fill my 2B position and didn’t want to take grandy and werth who i see as two ALIKE players, and more so in that i didn’t want to take on BOTH of their LOW AVG’s. Cano helps so i could take some risk later, which i guess i really didn’t? But i had it set up for that.
I’m not as high on werth as grey and others.
Quentin is severely undervalued on yahoo ranks. Depending on your league you can wait on him a bit. I wasn’t really looking at pence this year until i read a few posts, looked at his #’s a bit more, and then i started liking him in the 8th or 9th rounds. Especially with his age this year. Its peak time.
I dont think you can take Andrus and get value out of him in the 8th? What do you think Grey? I mean there comes a point if you’re reaching that far you’re defeating his value by taking him too early. I’d rather wait til the 11th then and take Asdrubal than take Andrus that early, there’s WAYYY too many other players i love in those rounds that have far more potential for success than Andrus. Don’t get me wrong i like Andrus, but his %’s to underperform are better than say Pence, Quentin, etc which will go right around where you’re taking him….
You can always do what i plan to do in my yahoo league. Wait for TULO to slump horribly in his first month, then send out something like “the flavor of the month SP/rookie not named heyward/junkie closer who you got off waivers/combo,etc” to him and try and reel him in, then watch him mash for the rest of the year…. if tulo does the norm this is a good possibility.
btw this was a yahoo mock.
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March 12th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
@Grey: Yeah, except Deano would probably be out cutting a swathe on a Saturday night, rather than sitting at home making up lyrics about fantasy baseball.
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March 12th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Question for the group. Panicky owner is a 12 team H2H dynasty league has dropped Joba (for Dontrelle Willis!!!). I already have Hughes. Should I pick up Joba as Yankee 5th starter insurance and discard whomever doesn’t get the job? I would have to drop hodgepadre Chris R. Young to clear a roster spot. Thoughts?
Thanks all!
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March 12th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
@Bill Lumbergh: I would…gotta go with the upside, and Young is gonna need more than PetCo to not suck
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March 13th, 2010 at 12:33 am
@Bill Lumbergh: Drop Cristall Young for Joba. Even if both suck, at least you got some Ks.
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March 13th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Damn you, Reyes-shaped wrench in my keeper plans. Stick w/ Reyes and forfeit a 1st-rounder next year? [I'm a lock to keep Votto (10th rd) and Reynolds (22th) while waffling between Grandy (6th) and Wieters (14th)]
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March 13th, 2010 at 6:48 am
@Grey: Say you are in a keeper league and this year you have pick #3. The top 2 players available are Hanley and ARod (Pujols and Braun are on other people’s kept rosters already). Now saw that Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore and Felix Hernandez are the next best 3 players available. Who are you taking at 3?
If they were all 3 healthy I’m taking Reyes no question, but damn him and his thyroid!
What does everyone else think too?
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March 13th, 2010 at 7:15 am
2 things: 1) where’s adam laroche in the top 300? i see andy but no adam. 2) isn’t barmes really ranked too high? your projections for him don’t seem to earn him the spot.
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@Tony: The 8th is too early.
@Steve: Very true.
@Bill Lumbergh: I’d drop Young for Joba.
@TedStrikerForce: Forget Reyes in the 1st. Go with Grandy.
@ron mexico’s papi: I’d take Grady.
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@david: 1) He’s not there. 2) At his position, he doesn’t seem that different than Zobrist. Doesn’t mean I’d own either.
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March 13th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Hey grey, jut finished a 10-league h2h draft; hoping you could critique it. Thanks!
C Mike Napoli, LAA C
1B Justin Morneau, Min 1B
2B Chase Utley, Phi 2B
3B Evan Longoria, TB 3B
SS Jose Reyes, NYM SS DTD
IF Billy Butler, KC 1B DTD
OF Grady Sizemore, Cle OF
OF Curtis Granderson, NYY OF
OF Josh Hamilton, Tex OF
UTIL Ian Stewart, Col 2B, 3B
UTIL Jason Heyward, Atl OF DTD
P Clayton Kershaw, LAD SP
P Chad Billingsley, LAD SP
P Matt Garza, TB SP
P James Shields, TB SP
SP Ricky Nolasco, Fla SP
SP Cole Hamels, Phi SP
SP Wandy Rodriguez, Hou SP
RP Chad Qualls, Ari RP
RP David Aardsma, Sea RP DTD
Bench Ryan Dempster, ChC SP
Bench Jonathan Sanchez, SF SP
Bench Scott Sizemore, Det 2B DTD
Bench Magglio Ordonez, Det OF, DH DTD
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